The BBC has finally released the full trailer for Season (or Series) 8 of Doctor Who, with Peter Capaldi in the title role. Looks pretty awesome. It starts August 23rd:
Snubs & Surprises From This Year's Emmy Noms
Biggest Surprises:
- Obviously, Kristen Wiig for The Spoils of Babylon. It was pretty awesome that she actually got recognized for that, making my long ago wish for it in my review come true.
- Kate McKinnon slid into the SNL slot nicely, which was well-deserved, seeing as she's one of the only good things about SNL these days. And Fred Armisen for Portlandia, but in supporting when it's entirely his show? They really, really need to bring back that Best Individual Performance in a Variety Series award, which was eliminated just a few years ago. I don't even know why they got rid of it. It'd be filled every year with worthy competitors instead of nominating them in the supporting acting categories, where they don't belong.
- Ricky Gervais for Derek? This Netflix show was not the best received, making it a case of likely name recognition in a weak field, and the same goes for William H. Macy's first nod for Shameless since it moved from Drama to Comedy series. I wonder if either of them can take down three time champ Jim Parsons though.
- Lena Headey is nominated for the first time for Game of Thrones, taking Emilia Clarke's slot from last season. I don't know how that happened exactly, since Cersei really didn't have much screen time this year, except early on when grieving over Joffrey's death. Looks like Emmy voters are actually watching Game of Thrones though (it led all nominations with 19), which is not always the case with these things.
- The voters continue to soften on Modern Family, dumping Eric Stonestreet, Sofia Vergara and Ed O'Neil from their usual acting slots, giving both Orange is the New Black and Veep a strong chance to take it down this year. But they really don't want to let go of Downton Abbey, which got noms for Maggie Smith, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery and Joanne Froggat again, plus nods for writing, directing and series. Wow. They remain the one awards body still enamored with Downton.
BIggest Snubs:
- So, yeah, Tatiana Maslany. You just can't make these people watch Orphan Black no matter what, it seems. Probably means Robin Wright takes the category, unless Claire Danes can three-peat, but they seem to have totally gone off Homeland, which didn't even get nominated in series.
- Nothing but Andre Braugher for Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which means it's just another case of name recognition for a show they clearly didn't watch.
- Fans of The Good Wife were angry this morning, as even though most of the actors got back in, the show didn't, probably just missing out for what many say was undoubtedly its best season ever. And in favor of Downton Abbey too, that's gotta sting.
- Nods for writing, directing and series for Silicon Valley (and it kicked out Girls, ha!) yet none of the actors got in. Huh. That's a mystery, especially if they were looking to fill out names in that Best Actor in a Comedy lineup.
- Michael Sheen dissed for Masters of Sex when co-star Lizzy Caplan was nominated, missing out in favor of Jeff Daniels, who I'm pretty sure no one thought would be back this year for the canceled Newsroom. Hopefully he gets his shot next time, when Breaking Bad 's absence will leave empty slots across the board.
'Game of Thrones,' 'Breaking Bad,' 'Fargo,' and 'Orange is the New Black' Dominate the 2014 Emmy Nominations
HBO led the networks with an amazing 99 Emmy nominations in total this year, but Netflix was the true winner, with Orange is the New Black and House of Cards positioning themselves as strong frontrunners in the Comedy and Drama series categories, both of which are very competitive, with at least three shows in each that could legitimately threaten a win. Some other surprises (Kristen Wiig in lead actress for Spoils of Babylon! Ricky Gervais in lead actor for comedy series! Three OITNB nominees in guest actress!) and snubs this morning as per usual (once again, the Emmys ignore Tatiana Maslany, and Andre Braugher is the sole nominee from Brooklyn Nine-Nine), but I'll post on those later. Here's the list of nominees:
Comedy Series
- The Big Bang Theory
- Louie
- Modern Family
- Orange Is the New Black
- Silicon Valley
- Veep
Drama Series
- Breaking Bad
- Downton Abbey
- Game of Thrones
- House of Cards
- Mad Men
- True Detective
Lead Actress, Comedy
- Lena Dunham, Girls
- Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
- Melissa McCarthy, Mike and Molly
- Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
- Taylor Schilling, Orange Is the New Black
Lead Actor, Comedy
- Louis C.K., Louie
- Don Cheadle, House of Lies
- Ricky Gervais, Derek
- Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
- William H. Macy, Shameless
- Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Lead Actress, Drama
- Lizzy Caplan, Masters of Sex
- Claire Danes, Homeland
- Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
- Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
- Kerry Washington, Scandal
- Robin Wright, House of Cards
Lead Actor, Drama
- Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
- Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
- Jon Hamm, Mad Men
- Woody Harrelson, True Detective
- Matthew McConaughey, True Detective
- Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Miniseries
- American Horror Story: Coven
- Bonnie and Clyde
- Fargo
- Luther
- Treme
- The White Queen
Television Movie
- Killing Kennedy
- Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight
- The Normal Heart
- Sherlock
- The Trip to Bountiful
Lead Actress, Miniseries or Movie
- Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor
- Minnie Driver, Return to Zero
- Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
- Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Coven
- Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful
- Kristen Wiig, The Spoils of Babylon
Lead Actor, Miniseries or Movie
- Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: His Last Vow
- Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge
- Idris Elba, Luther
- Martin Freeman, Fargo
- Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
- Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo
Variety Series
- The Colbert Report
- The Daily Show
- Jimmy Kimmel Live
- Real Time with Bill Maher
- SNL
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Reality - Competition Program
- The Amazing Race
- Dancing with the Stars
- Project Runway
- So You Think You Can Dance
- Top Chef
- The Voice
Supporting Actor, Drama
- Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
- Jon Voight, Ray Donovan
- Josh Charles, The Good Wife
- Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
- Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
- Jim Carter, Downton Abbey
Supporting Actress, Drama
- Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
- Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
- Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
- Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
- Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
- Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Supporting Actor, Comedy
- Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Adam Driver, Girls
- Ty Burrell, Modern Family
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
- Fred Armisen, Portlandia
- Tony Hale, Veep
Supporting Actress, Comedy
- Julie Bowen, Modern Family
- Allison Janney, Mom
- Kate Mulgrew, Orange Is the New Black
- Kate McKinnon, SNL
- Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
- Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Supporting Actor, Movie/Mini
- Colin Hanks, Fargo
- Jim Parsons, The Normal Heart
- Joe Mantella, The Normal Heart
- Alfred Molina, The Normal Heart
- Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart
- Martin Freeman, Sherlock: His Last Vow
Supporting Actress, Movie/Mini
- Frances Conroy, American Horror Story: Coven
- Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Coven
- Angela Bassett, American Horror Story: Coven
- Allison Tolman, Fargo
- Ellen Burstyn, Flowers in the Attic
- Julia Roberts, The Normal Heart
Guest Actor, Drama
- Paul Giamatti, Downton Abbey
- Reg E. Cathey, House of Cards
- Robert Morse, Mad Men
- Beau Bridges, Masters of Sex
- Joe Morton, Scandal
- Dylan Baker, The Good Wife
Guest Actress, Drama
- Diana Rigg, Game of Thrones
- Kate Mara, House of Cards
- Allison Janney, Masters of Sex
- Kate Burton, Scandal
- Margo Martindale, The Americans
- Jane Fonda, The Newsroom
Guest Actor, Comedy
- Nathan Lane, Modern Family
- Steve Buscemi, Portlandia
- Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live
- Louis C.K., Saturday Night Live
- Bob Newhart, The Big Bang Theory
- Gary Cole, Veep
Guest Actress, Comedy
- Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
- Laverne Cox, Orange Is the New Black
- Natasha Lyonne, Orange Is the New Black
- Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live
- Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live
- Joan Cusack, Shameless
RECAP: 24 LAD "9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m."
The second to last episode of this season of 24 opens on Jack and Kate still in a shootout with the Russians, and doing very well (I don't know how either of them don't run out of bullets in this episode). Meanwhile, Cheng has sent the order for the American sub to sink the Chinese carrier, and explains to Chloe that China turned its back on him and he wants revenge. Back at the White House, Heller and the rest of the government officials have to deal with the fallout of the attack, and Heller has to basically try to convince the Chinese president that it was just an "accident." Yeah, good luck with that.
Cheng spots Jack on the security cameras outside, realizes there was a tracker in the override device and decides its time to get the hell out of dodge before he can make his way in. Chloe tries to grab a phone off one of the bodies as she's carted away (I really don't know why they're keeping her alive at this point other than plot convenience) but Cheng sees her attempt and tosses the phone out of her hands, warning her not to cause more trouble than she's worth (what is she worth? Seriously, what are they using her for?). Outside, backup finally arrives to help Jack and Kate take out all of the Russian attackers, and Jack runs into the building to find all the dead bodies and the tracker from the device. Kate comes in and spots the phone that Chloe grabbed, and of course she set it up to record what it could for Jack to find. That Chloe, she's a clever one. What it recorded was Cheng's voice, which gives Jack chills when he hears it (spending a year in a Chinese prison will do that to a person, as we'll see also with Audrey later). He and Kate rush back to the car to call the president, and inform him that Cheng is still alive and working with the Russians to start WWIII, so that Russia can move freely into Eastern Europe. Heller is shocked and Audrey is disturbed, but they now believe everything Jack says without question (saves us a lot of time that way) and Heller tries to explain to the Chinese president what happened. He has no luck convincing him though, as the president threatens to retaliate unless they can produce Cheng himself as evidence that he gave the order.
In the car, Jack talks to the new tech guy at the CIA to find out how he was tracked by the Russians, and quickly discovers it was Mark Boudreau who set him up, since he was the only person in the White House who asked for his cell phone code. At the residence, Audrey asks Heller if she can meet her own contact at the Chinese embassy and try to convince her to pass along what evidence they have of the override device, just to buy some time. Heller agrees to her plan and she takes off, brushing away Mark's concerns. While she's in the car, Jack calls her, seemingly to tell her about Mark, but she interrupts him before he can say anything, telling him to kill Cheng as soon as he gets his hands on him. Jack is taken aback, and tells Audrey he only surfaced again to protect her father and he doesn't want her to hate him, but Audrey just says that she never hated him and once again tells him to do what needs to be done. Jack replies affirmatively and hangs up, deciding not to tell her about Mark after all. In the van with the Chinese, Chloe looks pensive as Cheng calls the Russian deputy foreign minister Stolnavich, wondering why they didn't kill Bauer, who he knows will now come after him, since they have "history." Heh. The guy kind of brushes him off, since this scene is only to confirm that Jack was right about Cheng working for the Russians, and that Mark Boudreau is indeed a moron.
Jack storms into the residence and demands to talk to Heller and Mark alone, and when they're in another room he shoves Boudreau against the wall and pulls a gun on him, demanding to know why he set him up. Mark caves immediately, confessing to the forged signature and handing Jack over to the Russians, claiming he didn't know they were working with Cheng, and Heller is stunned and says he's under arrest for treason. But Jack quickly lowers his gun and says they could use him to get into Stolnavich's house to find Cheng's location. Heller agrees again (whatever Jack needs, Jack gets is now his new catchphrase), so Jack takes Mark with him to use as bait. Mark is kinda freaked about this in the car, as Jack pins a flagpin camera to his lapel, saying he's got to get let inside the minister's house somehow, while Erik and techie Gavin work on trying to jam his alarm system. Mark is worried about what happens when the shooting starts, but Jack just tells him to stay low. Mark insists that even though he knows Jack hates him, he really was just doing what he thought was best for the country and he's willing to try to make it right now. Jack just nods curtly, seeming to believe him, while he and Kate get ready from the outside and send Mark in.
Back in the van, Chloe decides to pull the most un-Chloe move ever, grabs a pipe and starts wacking all the guys surrounding her. Amazingly, she actually succeeds in disorienting them, so she takes the chance to open the door and jump from the moving vehicle, falling down a hill in the woods on the side of the highway. Luckily it's completely dark, so they can't find her and even though Cheng and his guys jump out and start looking for her with flashlights, some trucks drive by and ask if they need help. Cheng realizes they have to get out of there and tells his goons to leave her behind as they take off in the van, and last we see of Chloe this episode, she's lying in the middle of a wooded area, unconscious. At the minister's house, Mark aks to be let inside, asking the guard at the gate if he can speak to Stolnavich on the phone. He begs him for asylum, saying the White House found out about his betrayal and now he's on the run. Stolnavich doesn't really care, but Mark claims he can give them all kinds of classified information and reminds him what a hero he'd be back in Russia for this. Stolnavich unwisely goes against his better judgment and lets him in, just as Gavin manages to jam the alarm systems. As Mark meets with Stolnavich in the house, giving Jack and Kate a good look at the inside (and frankly, that flagpin is pretty conspicuous considering this is a guy who claims to be betraying his country), Jack and Kate strike head on, shooting every guard in the house as Stolnavich lunges at Mark and the two go flying through the glass door to his office. Jack and Kate do manage to take everybody out, but when they reach the minister he's got a pretty nasty glass shard stuck in his neck, and he's dying before Jack can get Cheng's location out of him (boy is that something that's happened a LOT in 24 history). His last words are to threaten Jack with payback for his killing spree in Season 8, but then he's gone and Jack is pissed.
In the final scene, Audrey meets up with her Chinese contact in a park and convinces her to pass the evidence of the override device onto the Chinese government, but just as she's walking away, the contact is taken out by a sniper, along with every one of Audrey's security guards. Audrey is frozen as she realizes she's being targeted and when her phone suddenly rings, of course it's Cheng, who tells her to sit down on the bench and maybe he won't kill her. So that's where we leave it tonight, everybody. Tune in next week for what's maybe the second series finale, but who knows- I suppose it's always possible the show comes back again someday. It looks like the time jump will take place during the last episode, but I'm kinda thinking it'll be some kind of an epilogue, with Jack riding off into the sunset, hopefully with Chloe in tow. We'll find out soon!
REVIEW: "Orange is the New Black" Season 2
Orange is the New Black came roaring back for a second season having lost none of the momentum of the first, and it remains one of the very strongest, most unique shows on television- unique for the brand of show it is (that is, a mix of comedy and melodrama that often has people confused as to what genre it belongs in) and unique in the kinds of stories it wants to tell. Particularly those of an almost entirely female cast, women who are ostracized by society and really never paid much attention to in any form of media. Black, white, latino, lesbian and working class women of all ages are spotlighted on this show, and these are people who we never see represented on mainstream television. Jenji Kohan is committed to telling these stories, and for that reason she's one of TV's best showrunners.
I personally have no problem with labeling OITNB a comedy, even though many see it as a drama. For me it's a heightened, darkly comedic, over the top version of life in a women's prison (this isn't exactly realistic, even if the pre-prison lives of the inmates might be more so). The dialogue is sparkling with punchlines and witty zingers; the repartee alone makes it seem like a laugh out loud comedy, especially when you compare it to heavy, intense dramas like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. The second season gets off to a Piper-centric start, as Taylor Schilling's character is temporarily shipped off to a Chicago prison to testify at the trial of her ex-girlfriend Alex's drug dealer boss. We spend the whole hour with Piper as she adjusts to life in this new environment, coming in contact with brand new inmates who all want to push her around, but happily this year, Piper is no longer the wide-eyed, fearful prisoner. Instead she's more or less of a seasoned vet, especially when she gets back to Litchfield to face the old crew. After the premiere she transitions to becoming more of a supporting player in this massive ensemble cast, but I was actually very impressed with Schilling this year, much more so than last season, as all the material she was given she played with supreme confidence and a perfect air of comedic timing and delivery (her immediate reaction to finding out about fiance Larry's infidelity includes some of the best lines of the season). She's now become a superb lead for this cast, and if I wasn't as interested in her as I was the other inmates last year, that's all been turned around with what she showed off this season.
But the rest of the cast remains top-notch as well, with many of the characters given more depth, including some of the two dimensional ones from last season. Kate Mulgrew is still perhaps the MVP though, the former kitchen chef turned gardening aficionado, as Red schemes her way back into the good graces of the girls with whom she'd fallen out of favor, and manages to institute a new way of smuggling goods into the prison to rebuild her status as the go to boss. But it took her a while, and along the way Red's interactions with Piper, Healy, Kaputo and virtually any inmate she came across (Sister Ingalls even) are gold, with the emotionally complicated and sympathetic Red serving as mother figure for anyone she has the chance to dole out advice to, no matter how begrudgingly. Others we saw new sides to this year were Gloria, new kitchen boss and head of the Latina outfit (the prison groups are still split along racial and ethnic lines), Crazy Eyes, aka Suzanne (played wonderfully by Uzo Aduba, now bumped to regular) and Poussey (Samira Wiley), who gave a heartbreaking performance as she dealt with her unrequited love for Tastee (Danielle Brooks, also now a regular) and is the only one of the girls in her group who can see through the new predator in the prison, Vee, the older woman who sets her sights on Suzanne and devious plans towards Red.
The only storylines this year that turned a bit dull were Daya's ongoing pregnancy and affair with the prison guard Bennett, but that's really just because there's no where to go with that relationship at this point, so their back and forth got a bit repetitive as we continue to wait for the baby to be born (she's still just three or four months along, if that). But any time we spend time with someone who feels like a weak spot (I've never really like counselor Healy for example, who tried to redeem himself after failing to stop Piper's assault last season), it's not long enough to get truly bored, and we're quickly tossed into another relationship and story that has more spark. A really good episode this year was one in which we finally got the backstory of Merillo, who seemed last year like the sweetest girl in the prison, yet turns out to have one of the most disturbing backgrounds of all the inmates and might literally be insane and dangerous, deserving of her incarceration when some of the other prisoners are shown to be victims of the system in many ways.
The main arc of the season involved Vee, as I mentioned earlier, a new character played by Lourraine Toussaint, who was Tastee's foster mother, as revealed early in a flashback episode, and has now landed in the prison with her. A drug dealer on the outside, Vee was a dangerous bully inside the prison walls and out, her past associations with Red revealing a truly disturbed psychopath who likes to hold others under her thumb. Toussaint played the role well, but Vee turned out to be a little too one-dimensional compared to most of the other characters, and her ultimate resolution was less satisfying than it could have been, simply because it was a bit frustrating that it took so long for Tastee and her friends to catch on to her obvious psychotic nature. Maybe if the arc hadn't lasted the whole season- or, if it had to, that it wound up including an outsider. PIper, for example, ostensibly our lead, yet someone who was never even brought in on this storyline, which came to dominate the episodes leading up to the finale. Still, Toussaint gave a great performance as this pretty despicable character, and I hope she'll be remembered come Emmy time next season (although this is where the confusion between comedy and drama becomes a problem- even though Orange is a funny show, Vee as a character is played as a straight villain and submitting this dramatic performance under the comedy categories will surely hurt her chances, since committing assault and murder can't really be construed as funny).
The richness and complexity of all the characters on Orange is the New Black, and the ongoing struggles of the administration to simply work the prison system at all liken the show to a work of Charles Dickens in my estimation, and that's really not an exaggeration. Shining a light on those who are most often ignored, peppering a huge cast of characters with witty dialogue and distinguishingly funny personality traits, while at the same time using his art to make various social critiques is not unlike what Jenji Kohan is doing with this show, and the fact that something so ambitious is so successful is a true wonder to behold. I could never get tired of watching it, and could go on and on about the various moments that stood out in the second season (Piper's furlough, Miss Rosa's battle with cancer, Kaputo's triumph over the evil assistant warden Fig in attempting to better prison conditions for the women, and Piper's final telling off of Larry and Polly for their affair behind her back are just some of my favorites). I was disappointed that Taryn Manning was somewhat sidelined this year after being so great last time, but hey sometimes you just can't fit every cast member into 13 episodes (and even she gets a couple of good moments here). I originally thought I would miss Laura Prepon, who was only in four episodes this season as Alex, but that turned out not to be the case at all, as the show has so many potential characters to explore that her absence was barely noticed (and it looks like she's coming back next year anyway, so here's looking forward to that). There was certainly no sophomore slump for this series, as it was a total success the second time around, and I can't wait for the third. Bring it on.
Grade: A
RECAP: 24 LAD "8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m."
It's total chaos tonight on 24, as every subplot starts to come to a head, and we are re-introduced to yet another familiar face from seasons past. It's Cheng, everybody! Yes, Cheng is back and still as brutal as ever, now outcast from his own government and apparently out for revenge as he tries to start World War III. Picking up from before though, Jack is still racing after Navarro on the streets of London, and he calls Kate to give her the update on the mole in the CIA. Then he resumes his chase, with Navarro literally just steps ahead of him with the override device.
Cross calls Steve with the new meeting place info, but Chloe comes up behind him to overhear the conversation. Cross hangs up and decides to tell her what he's doing, which is apprehending the device in order to break the firewalls of the world governments and release all the documents they can get. Chloe isn't thrilled about this, but when Adrian asks if she's still with him and invokes the memory of Morris and Prescott, she agrees, somewhat reluctantly. When Steve finally gets to the spot, he finds an envelope filled with money and a passport, so he places the device through the drop off point, but of course Cross double-crosses him (ha! the second time this season I get to use that phrase) and there is no car waiting to pick him up and take him out of the country. So Jack catches up with him and handcuffs the traitor, while Cross makes his way through the train station with the device. Jack miraculously spots both he and Chloe in the passing crowd (I guess anybody would notice Chloe's god awful eyeliner from miles away) and tries to follow them onto the tube, but he's too late as they get away at the last second.
Jack calls the station to let them know that Cross and Chloe have the device, and Kate and Erik want to know if Chloe had been playing them all day, to which Jack says he doubts it but he's unsure. Kate has the new tech guy find out what Jordan had been working on that Navarro didn't want him to, and she's now informed that Steve's the one who set her husband Adam up for treason. She's infuriated by this, but Erik orders her to her office before she can take out her rage on Navarro himself, who's being dragged in by agents for questioning. Jack of course wants to do the interrogating himself, but Erik (who's now acting station head and a pretty bad actor, I finally realize in this episode) is dubious. Jack doesn't care and goes in anyway, first trying to get the whereabouts of the device by offering to take away his likely death penalty for all the traitorous acts he's committed. Navarro laughs this whole thing off, wanting full immunity instead, to which Kate protests from behind the glass with Erik. Jack won't give in, instead deciding to pound his hand in with another witty one-liner (since when was Jack so quick with all these quips?) and gets dragged out of the room himself for it.
Meanwhile Chloe, who's looked uneasy all episode about what she's doing with Cross, decides to double-cross him (yes, I'm going to take every opportunity to use that line while I still can, since Cross isn't long for this world) in the stupidest way possible, saying she has to use a port-a-potty before quickly snatching the device and trying to hail a passing truck. That pitiful escape attempt of course fails miserably, as Cross shoots the trucker and orders her back into the car against her protestations that he's crazy. Finally, back at the residence, Heller is still having the occasional battle with his memory loss as he readies himself to hand the office over to the vice-president, but then Mark comes in with the bad news from a CIA agent over the phone that their own station head stole the override device and gave it to Adrian Cross. Heller just says to give Jack whatever he needs and that he's now staying put for the time being, and Audrey and Mark go into his office to have it out over her feelings for Jack. Mark wants to know exactly what she feels about him, but Audrey storms out without saying anything, so a sulking Mark decides to call the Russians and give Jack over to them right then and there. You really think it's a wise idea to do this now, Mark? While he's tracking down the device that can override nuclear codes? Apparently he does and he gives them the code to Jack's CIA phone so they can track him.
Jack and Kate make a plan to work Steve over so they don't have to give him immunity, and it involves Kate storming into the medical center where he's being treated for Jack's hand smashing, and she kicks everyone out of the room and holds a gun to his head, threatening to kill him, in hysterics over her husband's death (he'd killed himself in his cell). Steve doesn't believe her at first, but when Jack comes in and pulls a gun on her, ordering her away and she won't budge, he caves and shouts out the number for the tracker he placed on the device (when did he do that?). Jack and Kate now take off for the location with a backup team behind them, and back at the residence when Mark enters the meeting room, he freaks out when he finds out that Jack's personally gone after Cross (what did he think he was doing before?). He tries to call the Russians to halt their attack but it's too late.
Cross and Chloe now make their way back to the hackers' new hideout, but they arrive to find that everyone's been brutally slaughtered in their chairs. Cross seems genuinely upset and Chloe looks aghast, but then who shows up but Cheng and his cronies. That's right, he's the one that Cross has been the middleman for, and he is not happy at Adrian's plans to doublecross him and keep the device for himself. He orders Chloe to rework the device from Yates' alterations and when she refuses, he shoots Adrian in the leg and she gives in. By the way, Chloe and Cheng act like they know each other, but I can't for the life of me remember them ever meeting. Somebody remind me, did that actually happen once? Meanwhile, in the car with Jack, Kate confesses to him that she can never forgive herself for not believing in Adam, and knowing her loss of faith in him is what's responsible for his death. Jack gives her a pep talk that includes admitting the actions he took after Renee was killed (who he refers to as his "partner," although they weren't really) and promises her nothing makes it better and she just has to accept it. Erik then warns them that backup is two miles behind and tells Jack not to wait too long to call them in on account of his history with Chloe.
Back at hacker headquarters, Chloe tries to plant a virus in the device but it's spotted by one of Cheng's henchmen, who shoos her off the computer, saying he can now take over. Chloe is ordered to sit next to a barely hanging on Adrian, who now admits to her that since they won't get out alive, he can tell her that he found information a year ago that proves Morris and Prescott's deaths really were an accident, and that no one killed them because they were targeting her. He didn't tell her because he wanted her to stay with him of course. But it's too late for Cross, as Cheng walks over and shoots him in the head, while Chloe cries out in horror. She then finds out that Cheng is using the device to send orders to a U.S. nuclear submarine, telling them to attack and sink a Chinese carrier. She's appalled, but unfortunately it all happens way too fast and the guys on the sub carry out the order with very minimal suspicion about such a drastic move, it must be said. The carrier is sunk, and just as Jack is approaching Chloe's location, he and Kate are purposely hit by a van and ambushed by the Russians, losing all communication with the CIA. They engage in a shootout as the clock ticks down, and it's a pretty big shitstorm of activity, folks. Actually, bringing Cheng in at the last minute to try to start a war with China is approaching ludicrous plot twist territory, even by 24 standards, but given that there's only two episodes left, I'm anxious to see how it all plays out. Tune back in next week everybody! And when the hell is this so-called time jump going to take place? Is it just going to be five minutes of Jack riding into the sunset 12 hours later? I guess we'll find out soon enough.
TEASER: "Doctor Who" Season 8
The new teaser for the eighth season of Doctor Who is here, along with a premiere date of August 23rd. This is the first starring Peter Capaldi (aka Malcolm Tucker for Thick of It fans) and Jenna Coleman, returning as Clara Oswald.
Promo art:
REVIEW: "Orphan Black" Season 2
I'm thrilled to report that the second season of Orphan Black did a really great job living up to the promise of its first, and if there was any question as to whether a show with a high concept like this can sustain itself for several years, I think it's been firmly answered in the affirmative.
Tatiana Maslany continued to amaze this year (give her the Emmy already!) as she played the characters we came to know and love last season, and deepened them as we got to know and spend time with each clone in their own particular environments, while constantly shifting back and forth with the various supporting characters from each clone's world coming to interact with the people in another. One of the great pleasures of this series is the way that the ground is constantly moving, and events are so fast-paced and lively that you barely have time to keep up with the dubious science fiction that lies at the heart of the mysterious Dyad organization, and that's a good thing, believe me. Unlike certain other sci-fi shows (cough, Lost, cough) that were too wrapped up in their ridiculously complicated mythology, showrunners Graeme Manson and John Fawcett understand that the heart of this series lies in the characters, the relationships, and Maslany's transformative performance(s) that can entertain for miles all on their own.
This year we got to know the evil Rachel more, as she progressed to be more haughty, cold and narcissistic than ever (even succeeding in gasp, kidnapping little Kira!), and also Helena was developed into more than just the crazy killer antagonist from last season. The latter in particular is a good thing because Helena was originally my least favorite clone and I was kind of disappointed at first to see that she'd miraculously survived the shooting from last season's finale. But as we spent more and more time with her this year I came to appreciate her badass assassin-like skills, weird sense of humor and longing to have a family of her own, and I'm fully on board with her now to the point where I'm actually sad to see her apprehended and shipped to god knows where by the always flip-flopping Mrs. S (Maria Doyle Kennedy). Clones with less character development but just as much screen time remained our protagonist Sarah, science nerd Cosima, and suburban mom Alison, who remains mostly comic relief, as her activities were consumed this season by participating in the community musical (a bizarre little subplot which Maslany gave her all to- yes she can sing as well), a stint in rehab, and rekindling the sparks with husband Donnie over their mutual accidental homicides.
Speaking of which, the supporting cast was expanded this year to great effect, as every non-Maslany actor is given good material and an interesting character of their own to play, most of whom have great interaction with at least one, sometimes several, of the clones in question. Hapless Donnie (Kristian Bruun), who'd remained a lunkhead for most of the time he'd been on the show, came to life this year when it was revealed that he stupidly knew nothing of the clone project in his job as Alison's monitor, and to redeem himself he stumbles in head first to his wife's secretly repressed life of crimes, which reunited them in passionate romance to hilarious effect. Jordan Gavaris remains indispensable as Felix, Sarah's sidekick and foster brother, and he's always funny and dependable when interacting with Sarah, Alison, Helena, and most surprisingly Art (Kevin Hanchard), who he was paired up with several times in a kind of odd couple friendship as the two tracked down leads, with Detective Art being fully folded into the clone support group this season. And Kennedy as Siobhan Sadler, the mysterious Mrs. S., continues to switch allegiances (I still don't even know exactly what she does or why she does it) but remained intriguing throughout, as she's essentially written to be a character who could very easily be revealed to be behind anything, everything, or nothing at this point and I'd believe it.
The only storyline I wasn't totally on board with at first was Helena's early stint in the company of a strange religious cult, where we were introduced to some bizarre characters that I was originally wondering why we had to spend so much time with. But I'll tell you right now, that storyline is paid off by the season finale in spades, and the time spent on that weird cow ranch ended up being worth every minute. Another new character they introduced this year was Kira's father Cal (played by Nashville's Michiel Huisman) who immediately made for a more appealing love interest for Sarah than last year's Dyad handiman Paul (Dylan Bruce), who was almost gone for virtually the entire season this time, only to show up again near the end in what's basically a new iteration of himself. That's the great thing about this show- characters may disappear and come back only to be revealed as something else, and events are moving so quickly that you don't even have time to think about whether what you just saw really makes any sense or not (but in a fun way). Finally, the other thing we've got to mention here is Tony, the new clone who showed up for just one episode, again Maslany of course, but Tony is, wait for it...a boy! Well, almost, as he's a "transclone," on his way to becoming a boy, so the question is can Tatiana play male just as well as she can everyone else? Well...it was a little bit tough to buy on this one, I'll admit. Tony looked so much like Apolo Ohno that I was too distracted by that fact alone. But it was still fun to see her try.
Every aspect of the show is exciting, fun, crazy and unpretentious, which might be the most important factor. When a show isn't striving to be high art but instead a roller coaster ride made up of elements pulled from almost every genre, it's a really entertaining concoction if you buy the characters and the action. It doesn't ask you to make sense of it but just to enjoy what you're seeing and that I always do. I love this show and I can't wait for it to return. Is it next April yet?
Grade: A
'Breaking Bad' and 'Hannibal' Honored by the Saturn TV Awards
The Saturn awards also honored genre television yesterday, awarding horror favorites Hannibal and The Walking Dead, as well as Bates Motel and Breaking Bad. It's nice to see Hannibal get acknowledged somewhere, as it will most likely be totally ignored again by the Emmys on July 10th. But come on, no Orphan Black or Tatiana Maslany? What are these guys thinking?:
- Best Network TV Series Release: (tie) Hannibal and Revolution
- Best Syndicated/Cable TV Series: The Walking Dead
- Best TV Presentation of a Limited Run Series: Breaking Bad
- Best Youth Oriented TV Series: Teen Wolf
- Best Actor in a TV Series: Mads Mikkelson, Hannibal
- Best Actress in a TV Series: Vera Farmiga, Bates Motel
- Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series: Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
- Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series: Melissa McBride, The Walking Dead
- Best Guest Star in a TV Series: Robert Forster, Breaking Bad
- Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a TV Series: Chandler Riggs, The Walking Dead
TRAILER: "Masters of Sex" Season 2
Showtime's official full trailer for Season 2 is here! Can't wait for this to premiere July 13th:
